We installed a set of SPC A-arms off another guy's car this weekend, and I am now having issues with my alignment. We did find a bad lower control arm inner bushing on the driver's side, which will get replaced this weekend.

Right now the car pulls both left and right anytime the wheels are disturbed (hit a bump), making it very difficult to keep the car going straight. The steering wheel feels much tighter when turning left and looser when turning right.

I have attached my alignment sheets from a couple months ago without the kit, and now with the kit. No other items were changed. We did not adjust the settings the previous owner had used, which I would assume were working for him. The number that jumps out to me is the front caster, though it is on the right, which was fine before. The guy at the alignment shop straightened the toe, but not the camber.

I have also gone back and verified that everything is tight.

Anybody have an idea what could be causing this?

 

Went home and worked on it some more last night, found a slightly loose bolt where the front a-arm connects to the spindle, the left-right motions slowed down, but the rear feels somewhat wobbly still, I think that the camber kit is to it's max setting, and that may be causing the problem due to a lack of stifness in the brace, will check tonight.

Anyone else seen this problem?

 

I dont know nothing about alignments but i jut have to ask this question.....how many miles did the guy put on the camber kit?

 

I am having a similar problem with my 06 G35 Sedan. When i hit a bump in the road or catch a rut i get a side to side motion that really moves the car. This can really cause a problem where I live in the Northwest with snow in the Winter time. Slick roads and a car that doesn't handle bumps very well don't mix. My alignment was quite a bit out of spec so an alignment made it better, but still very noticeable. Everything is now within spec with the exception of the camber - which I have been told there is no adjustability on the stock suspension on these cars. My cars suspension is stock, should I buy aftermarket control arms with camber adjustability, or any suggestions? I do need new tires, which I will be getting this spring, and hope that will help some as well. One thing I do have on my car is staggered wheels - 17" x 7.5" front - 17" x 8" rear. Would that make a difference on the handling? I was going to check my endlinks, short of that I don't know what to try.

It seems to be worse at higher speeds as I don't notice it much around town. I don't want to go much over 70 mph just because of how much movement I get at that speed on the hiway. Anyone have any suggestions or a good suspension shop in the Northwest that may be able to help?

Thanks -

 

OP, who installed your camber kit? Did you make sure that you took the bushing from the front stock arms and placed it on the new one? As for the rear, did you make sure there's compression on the rear springs even when it's fully jacked up? The rear confused many people on how to preload the spring.

 

Well I ended up solving the problem. The rear camber arms were out all the way from the previous owner, creating a weak joint where the middle adjuster meets the rods (basically the things were barely threaded on there), I moved these back in and the movement stopped.

I finally replaced the bushings (which are awesome!) got it realigned and everything seems good. My annoyance goes to the alignment shop, as they could have adjusted the rear the first time I went in, and the problem wouldn't have been a week long mystey. The front needed the bushings fixed first though.

Deez: We did get the black piece on there. I am not sure about the spring preloading. Do you have a writeup of how to do that correctly?

 

The two things I would look at first are your tire wear and your shocks. You shouldn't really have camber issues if the car isn't lowered. If your tires are really uneven on the wear, it can cause some of the motion. Also, do a quick shock test to make sure they are working correctly. I would then look for busted/cracked bushings. I don't think your tire sizes are the source of your problem. The endlinks could cause a problem if they are broken, but didn't seem to do much for me by adjusting them.